


In Between the likes of Hope and Despair

by FreezingFics



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Persona 5
Genre: Canon Compliant, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Kinda, M/M, Slow Burn, Ultimate Barista!Akira, Ultimate Media Star!Goro, Ultimate Thief!Joker, Ultimates - Freeform, but i'm excited for this so they won't be too far apart i'm sure, but like basically, hyperfixation baYBEEEE, split personality, updates will be sporadic and unknown, will the others be ultimates? maybe
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-30
Updated: 2019-08-02
Packaged: 2020-07-27 09:01:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,468
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20043376
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FreezingFics/pseuds/FreezingFics
Summary: He knew the basics of what was going on in his sudden life now. The couple who scorned him were his parents, the man who accused him was named Masayoshi Shido, and his name was Akira Kurusu....No, that’s not right. He’s not Akira Kurusu. He doesn’t know who he is. Does he have a name? Has he even been born? Why had he been accused of assault when he didn’t even know who he was? He wouldn’t hurt anyone, not if they didn’t deserve it. He was open and strict with his justice after all, it was the only thing he really knew was his.





	1. Prologue: Probation, New Hope or Familiar Despair?

**Author's Note:**

> So basically @doodleodds on tumblr enabled this, which made me finish the first chapter at like 3 AM instead of sleeping, so here we are! This is my first chapter fic in a while, and I'm really excited! Though please pardon me if I get some stuff wrong, I haven't finished SDR2 yet, just DR1 and UDG. 
> 
> With that said, please enjoy the first chapter!

All that work, that night sleeping and stewing in the cell, the few days he had at figuring out what was happening to him, it had all been for nothing. It felt like he had just come into existence and he was already being shoved onto a train and carried of to Tokyo. At least he knew what that was. He knew the basics of what was going on in his sudden life now. The couple who scorned him were his parents, the man who accused him was named Masayoshi Shido, and his name was Akira Kurusu.

...No, that’s not right. He’s not Akira Kurusu. He doesn’t know who he is. Does he have a name? Has he even been born? Why had he been accused of assault when he didn’t even know who he was? He wouldn’t hurt anyone, not if they didn’t deserve it. He was open and strict with his justice after all, it was the only thing he really knew was his. 

The trip to Tokyo would be long though, and he was so tired. Every limb ached for sleep, even in the cramped train. At least he had managed to grab a seat. The raven sighed and leaned against the small wall at the end of his seat. It wasn’t comfortable, but all he needed to do was close his eyes for now. 

Just close his eyes…

\--------

Akira woke up with a start, looking around at the place he had woken up in. A train… How did he get here? Where was he going? He panicked for a brief moment, until a voice spoke from the speaker, “Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for riding with us today. We will be arriving in Shibuya shortly. This is the last stop for this line. Please transfer here for all subway lines. The doors to your left will open.” 

That’s right. Ever since that night where he helped a stranger, his life had been a hazy blur. Some man he didn’t know sued him of assault, and somehow got away with it. Grey eyes fell to his lap, checking his phone for any messages. Nothing, not even his parents asking if he had made it or was close yet. Of course not. 

“What? Are you for real? A mental shutdown?” 

“It’s the truth!”

Two girls talking distracted him from her rather bitter thoughts. (When did he get so angry? It’s not like he wasn’t used to this.) Their uniforms were different from the one he had been given for his new school, and he was currently trying to get used to, but they looked around his age. 

The girl with long hair spoke again with a small laugh, “To a person though? That’s gotta be a joke! You really love all the occult stuff, don’t you?”

Her ponytailed friend laughed with her, and their voices faded back into the bustle of the people as the train began to slow to a stop. Mental shutdown? What did that mean? 

No, enough asking questions. That’s what got him into this mess. He’d be on probation for a year with someone he didn’t know, that was bad enough, so it’s best if he keeps his head down while he’s here. He wasn’t happy about it, but it had to be done. His phone chimed, the directions his parents had put in his phone telling him this was his stop. With a deep breath, Akira stood up and started following the others outside.

A small grunt escaped when another dizzy spell hit as he walked through the doors. He managed to stumble out of the way while holding his head, but that didn’t stop the subway station from spinning. Stations were always loud and crowded, and he had learned that only made his new moments worse. Trying to save his stomach and head, he followed the lines on the floor telling him where to go. 

Apparently he had to go to a different line, which would likely start this all over again, but at least it gave him a brief reprieve of being in the sun and fresh air. As soon as he finished the steps out of the underground, the dizziness faded away, and he could breathe easy again. He stopped for a moment to look around where he was, now that he could think.

Shibuya square… It really was as busy as photos showed. Honestly, it was intimidating compared to his small town in Inaba. He could already spot a few people sitting on the curb with signs, one close to him saying something about being some kind of Ultimate, but his empty can showed the passersby doubts. Could he even survive in a place like this? 

A place that still showed hauntings of the Biggest, Most Awful, Most Despair Inducing Event in Human History? 

\------

After a small directional mistake, an introduction, and plans for the next few days by his new guardian Sojiro Sakura, Akira lay half awake in his bed. It wasn’t too comfortable, it was on top of crates for crying out loud, but at least it was clean sheets and a place to sleep. Living in an attic was admittedly kinda cool, even if it had been in need of a clean. The instant ramen he had for dinner was a meal he was used to, and it had actually served well to tire him out. 

He checked his phone one last time before resigning to sleep for the night. No messages, no calls, no signs of anyone caring ever since he left the train station. A familiar bitterness rose in his chest, the pain of being tossed away like this heavy on his mind. He squeezed his eyes shut to keep the small stinging he felt behind them away, and simply turned off his phone and pulled the covers over himself. 

This was just like normal, why did he feel so hurt? His parents hardly ever checked up on him when they were away either, why would they care when he was the one being pulled away? Akira took a deep breath, pushing his hurt aside to force himself into sleep. He was so tired, all he wanted was to drift off and maybe sleep his whole probation away...

Of course, while that was impossible, his mind made sure it wouldn’t happen anyway.

He opened his eyes, and instantly he knew he was in a dream. It was just like some kind of sense he had suddenly gained, where he knew it wasn’t reality. It was dark, but when looked down at his body he could see himself perfectly fine. He was even still in his pajamas. 

Akira pushed himself onto his feet, and the weirdness began. Under his feet, the black void splashed purple and red under him, yet it felt solid. When he looked up and waved his hand, the air seemed to blur and form waves where his hand moved. It was a dream, so logic had little meaning, but that didn’t make it not weird.

However, the black void around him began to lighten and fade into a scene, one that was familiar as his eyes adjusted to the light. He was back in Shibuya, but all the people around him were frozen, like time had paused for everyone except him. The raven’s brows furrowed in worry as he frantically turned around, looking for any signs of movement, anything to show he wasn’t alone. 

Yet, instead of seeing, when he had turned around he felt a sudden gust of warm wind hit his back and ruffle his hair. Akira spun back around, oddly not getting his weird dizziness, but what his eyes were met with made him stumble back as if he did.

A pillar of blue flame now stood in the center of Shibuya. It towered over him, even if it was a good distance away. The flames only seemed to grow the more he looked at it, but after staring for a few seconds, he realized it was actually coming closer. Despite his fear, Akira couldn’t move, stuck in fear or by the whims of the dream. As it moved closer, it slowly took on some kind of form. What looked like wings spread out from presumably inside, and long legs took shape, yet they didn’t move as it got closer and closer.

Finally, when it was so close the boy felt like he would tear up from the heat, a face leaned in from the fire. 

His face. 

The mirrored self had bright yellow eyes, and smiled wide as its hair blew in the lapping flames. He could just barely see a grey turtleneck on its neck as well. But that sight was enough to knock Akira right on his ass, falling and cowering slightly in fear. What kind of dream was this?

As if disappointed by his reaction, the yellow eyed copy’s smirk dropped. It’s form stepped out fully from the flames, though they continued to burn behind him, and seeming to burn on the outfit he wore. The grey turtleneck he saw was actually some kind of vest, buttons of gold holding it together, and a black trench coat hiding whether it had sleeves or not. Dark grey dress pants ended in slightly heeled dress shoes that made small clacks on the concrete ground as they splashed the purple liquid. 

For a moment, it just stared down at Akira, face neutral despite his counterparts fear. Then, it smiled, but not as wild as he had been. He took a few steps closer, then crossed an arm over his chest and threw the other back in a dramatic bow, keeping eye contact with him as it spoke its first words.

“You may call me Joker.”

Akira was unable to reply, as all of a sudden Shibuya was gone, and he was back in his bed in the dusty attic with his alarm ringing from his phone.


	2. Chapter 1: Awakening of hope’s justice

“If you’re done explaining things, mind if we get going? I got a store to get back to.” Sojiro tried to end the rather tense lecture Akira had gotten, of which the teen mostly had just listened to and not respond much. The principal had basically told him that any small fuck up would land him back in jail, and that he should be lucky the teacher with them was dealing with him. A very welcoming environment this school was already turning out to be.

The principal turned to the older man with a serious look, “Sakura-san, please keep a close eye on him. Don’t let him cause any trouble outside”

“Well, I’ll be sure to have a serious talk about the situation he’s in.” As if the raven hadn’t basically just gotten that from all of them combined at once. He couldn’t help his eyes narrowing into a small glare, but thankfully no one seemed to notice. Akira still didn’t know why he was so angry about this, he usually knew it was his own fault for getting into trouble, but this just made his heart heavy with anger. Maybe it was due to the fact it was all unjust. 

What was he thinking? This is how the world worked, nothing he could do about it.

His new teacher, Ms, Kawakami, turned to him and got his attention, “Come to the faculty office when you arrive at school tomorrow. I’ll show you to your classroom.”

“Yes, mam…” Akira replied a bit monotonous, the same thing he had said basically the entire time. 

“Well then, you’re all free to go. I hope to not see you in this office again.” The principal dismissed them all, the last sentence clearly directed at Akira. He didn’t respond, though internally he wanted to bite back with how he also hoped never to see his egg shaped head again. 

But, of course, he said nothing. Just nodded his head and followed Sojiro outside. Kawakami passed by them, but turned away to go to her classroom as soon as she walked through the door. Akira kept himself a good distance away from his caretaker, in case he also had some stern words. Again.

Instead, the man just sighed and rubbed the back of his head, “They’re treating you like some kinda nuisance… I guess that’s what it means to have a criminal record.”

That had managed to surprise him a bit. It sounded like Sojiro was almost defending him, even if reluctant. At least, he didn’t like how he was being beaten around head on by the big school figure. As far as he knew, Sojiro hated him, so he should have not cared about how he was being treated. Maybe he was just too used to that by now.

Sojiro turned to face him, expression vaguely worried, “Turns out your past follows you wherever you go.” Sadly that worry was quick to turn back into the harsh, reprimanding glare, “By the way, if you get expelled here, I won’t hesitate to kick you out. Got it?”

Akira just barely held back a sigh, though he couldn’t help a slight attitude in his voic, going to twirl his bangs under his fingers as a nervous habit, “I’ll be careful.” 

Sojiro held the glare for a moment, clearly catching the attitude but deciding not to press further. Instead, he just turned away again with a sigh. Akira didn’t catch what he said under his breath, but before he could try to ask, Sojiro was already walking again, “Come on, we’re going home.” 

\------

“Traffics not moving at all! You’re taking the train, starting tomorrow!” The older man exclaimed, making Akira tense at the suddenness. He shifted in his seat a bit, admittedly not minding the slow traffic. It let him look around more, and easily think about what was going on. He wasn’t used to trains, though, and already felt a bit of unease at just the thought. How was he supposed to navigate that insane system when he just got here?

Despite his discomfort, Sojiro attempted to make conversation, with nothing else to do in deadlock traffic, “So, how was it? The school, I mean. Think you can manage?” 

What kind of question was that? He had been attacked on basically all sides that one screw up would land him back in a cell for little to no reason. A reason he hardly remembered without Sojiro telling him about it. Already he had a bad feeling from it, and he didn’t even see any students yet. Something just felt off, and he didn’t know what. Then again, things felt off ever since he had that weird dream. 

“It seems fun.” Akira managed to fake the answer, just trying to shrug the haunting image of his own eyes turned yellow away.

Sadly, it didn’t seem Sojiro liked that kind of answer, “Do you even understand your situation…?” He sighed, “Still, you were expelled once already. To think you’d re-enroll at a different one. It’s not like anyone will be sympathetic with you” 

Because no one would ever listen to the full story, or bother to ask why he did it. 

“If that’s what it’s like at school, people might say stuff about me in the future too… What a troublesome kid I’ve taken in.” The old man shook his head, eyes going back to the road as Akira made no attempt to reply. Both just stared away from each other as the radio filled the silence.

However, said radio managed to get their attention with what it said, “Again, a subway has derailed at Shibuya Station, greatly affecting the timetable all across the-”

“Another accident?” Sojiro spoke before Akira could hear the full sentence, though that just made him more intrigued. Weren’t accidents like that supposed to be rare? Was everyone okay? Was he in danger if he went on the trains? Is that why Sojiro was making him go on them? 

Why was he always asking so many questions?

Forcing his thoughts down again, he nestled in the corner of his seat and door as they slowly went through the roads. A wave of fatigue washed over him, the slow rhythm of traffic lulling him into a haze. His eyes slipped shut under his unneeded glasses, pulled into a dreamless sleep he’d surely wake up happy about.

\---------

Eighty people involved. That was the answer to his question of if everyone was okay in the accident. Sojiro had long gone home and closed up shop, leaving him with a diary and the rest of the night to himself in the place. He made himself write a few sentences of his Shujin to vent, how what little of the trip to Tokyo he remembered was, mentioning the dizzy spells, but left out his dream from last night. 

As Akira lay in his bed, staring at the ceiling and trying to just think, he wondered back to the odd mirrored self he had seen. He looked like some kind of thief in the coat and mask, but a mask surely was useless when he had such bright yellow eyes. Anyone could spot him like that. But anyone looking for… ‘Joker’ would be looking for his face. Why did he have his face? If it was a dream, why wouldn’t it be someone he knew or his parents? It seemed to have a full conscious, as if fully alive but trapped in that pillar of fire and the reality of his dreams.

God, he should stop thinking about this. It was just a dream, one that had managed to spook him and confuse him. All dreams are confusing, this isn’t different. 

With everything turned off and his phone plugged in, Akira turned on his side and pulled the covers up, hoping to at least get another dreamless sleep. Tomorrow was his first day, he didn’t want to go in stressed from weird dreams. Closing his eyes with a deep sigh, he felt himself easily drift off once again.

But, of course, his hopes for no dreams are quickly crushed.

Instead of laying down, he wakes up sitting at a desk. It’s simple and fancy, with a few papers he couldn’t read strewn about, letting him know it was indeed a dream due to how the words seemed to blur and not make sense. Akira rose his head to survey where he had woken up this time. The room was circular, with prison bars and cells lining the walls of blue bricks. Below him was a large blue rug, with a golden V sewn into it in an ornate pattern. 

So his mind had made some kind of weird prison this time. Well, considering his blurry memories, that wasn’t surprising. He pushed the leather seat he had woken up in back, pushing himself up with the desk to stand. Yet as he did, he heard chains move from the cell directly in front of him, jolting his attention forward. Akira felt his heartbeat quicken, but refused to be scared of whatever his mind was making this time. With furrowed brows, he slowly moved around the desk, hearing the rattles mimic his movements from whatever being was unseen in the dark cell. 

Each step on the soft carpet was echoed by a step on the stone ground. The blue haze surrounding the room seemed to part for him as the raven moved closer and closer to the cell. Akira had a good idea of what he would be met with, and could only hope he could stop his pounding heart to ask some questions. 

And just as he suspected, when he was at the bars of the cell, the same yellow eyes met him. This time, instead of the weird outfit he wore, he was in a black and white prison jumpsuit, with shackles on his wrists and ankles that went to an unseen place to keep him chained up inside the cell. As if the excessive barring and chains to his door didn’t do that enough. Yet he could notice in some places, the chains had been broken, and simply hung in mid air instead of falling. There was only one chain and padlock left, and the bars. Even then, the bars seemed weak, rattling when his mirror brought his hands up to grab and hold them. Whatever was keeping him in this place was getting weak, and Akira really didn’t like that thought.

There was a tense silence between them, those yellow eyes seeming to pierce through everything Akira had as a defence as they stared blankly at his face. Yet, the dream almost seemed pathetic like this. Chained up, locked away, and little hope of escaping. However, he seemed to already have before in that first dream. 

Finally, Akira broke the silence with his first question, “Who are you?”

The mirror didn’t say anything for a few seconds, but before the question could be repeated, he smiled and answered, “I told you. My name is Joker.”

“That’s hardly a name, but fine,” Last he checked he didn’t even like those American comics, but if that’s what this dream wanted to call himself, then so be it, “What are you?”

Joker chuckled, head tilting a bit with that small grin, “I am you, in a sense.” He paused, waiting for Akira to comment, but when he only got a confused glare, he went on, “I am both your true self, and what you think of yourself as. I am the persona you chose to be on that fateful day, the day I was first truly born.” 

“What day?” Almost nothing Joker was saying was making sense, but he tried his best to follow along with what this weird dream was saying.

“The day you saved that woman and ended up on the wrong end of justice because of it.” 

Akira pulled back a bit, as if recoiling from the sudden hit of his realization. Yet at the reaction, Joker pulled back from the bars as well, a small chuckle shaking his shoulders as he crossed his arms. “Those days were the first days I was alive. Not a very good way to be born, huh?” He laughed again. Yet he looked off for a moment, his smile dropping and eyes narrowing, “I hardly knew what was happening to me, but I knew it wasn’t right. It wasn’t real justice, I didn’t do anything to deserve it. Neither did you.” His voice was bitter, simmering with an anger that even Akira hadn’t really shown before. 

Sure, Akira was bitter about what had happened to him, but what could he do? He crossed his arms, mirroring his other self once again, and look down to the ground, “There’s nothing we can do about it. That’s just how the world works. It sucks, but I’m just a kid. I just want to keep my head down and finish this probation.” 

“No, that’s wrong!” Joker snapped, bringing Akira’s attention back up to him in a shock, “We can do something about it! This world doesn’t have to be this way!” He was suddenly at the bars again, the metal rattling loud at the sudden force. For a moment, Akira feared they might break under his fists. “Those corrupt adults took your peaceful life away! Don’t you want to fight back? Don’t you want them to confess that they were the ones in the wrong?”

“That’s impossible!” Akira shot back, stepping back close to the bars and his mirror, “We’re just kids, no one is gonna listen to us! We don’t have powers and we aren’t special! We just…” His sad outlook made his resolve weaken, but he kept a cold glare up, “We just have to keep our head down and play along.”

All of a sudden, a bell on the upper wall rang, startling Akira to whip around away from Joker. He took that chance to sink away back into the dark cell, the rattling of his chains the only thing making Akira vaguely aware he was leaving under the loud sound of the alarm. When he looked back, the yellow eyed reflection was gone, making his panic grow even more. He gripped the bars to try and shake them, but in his hands, they suddenly felt sturdy and firm. They didn’t even move. So instead, he desperately called out, “Don’t leave me! I still have questions! Joker!!”

But it was too late. As soon as the bell stopped ringing, it was replaced by the sound of his alarm from his phone, and he was waking up in his bed in a cold sweat. 

\-------

Sojiro had been kind enough to give him a meal before leaving, filling his belly with a delicious and warm curry and nice coffee, but that warmth didn’t help much when a cold rain started to pour down on him. So that’s what he had forgotten to do this morning, check the weather. The train ride had already been confusing and tight packed, filled with murmurs and scared glances around the car after the incident yesterday. For the most part, he followed some students he had managed to find with the same uniform as him, but kept his distance to not make it obvious he had been lost in the chaos of Tokyo subways. By the time he made it to Aoyama-Itchome, the rain had already begun. He cursed himself for not checking the weather.

Actually… would cursing himself mean he was cursing Joker? With how he was talking last night, he was almost scared of that. Then again, it was probably still just some weird dream his mind was making from stress, it wasn’t a big deal. 

Akira managed to find a small store with an awning to use as shelter while he navigated his phone for more directions. He seemed to be following the right path, but he wanted to be sure. Tokyo was a lot more chaotic than Inaba, and Sojiro’s ‘country boy’ comment was started to be more and more true. 

However, a hooded figure crossing him and joining him under the awning caught his attention from his phone. It was a girl, he could tell that much, and she tried to brush the water from the sudden rain off her black blazer. He noticed it was the same as he wore, though she had a cute white hoodie underneath that almost covered her skirt, and red leggings to likely keep the cold out due to how skirts usually were in uniforms.   
When she pulled her hood down, two blonde pigtails fell out, and Akira stiffened for a moment. The fashion, the hair, and her blue eyes… What, was the girl trying to look like Junko Enoshima herself? Though, despite the many similarities, she was beautiful. There was a reason why that kind of look got that mad woman the title of Ultimate Fashionista. For a moment, the raven was a bit enraptured by her natural feeling beauty. She didn’t notice him, just looked out at the street as students hurried to get to get to school.

However, it didn’t take long for her to notice his staring, but didn’t seem too weirded out by it, despite the flush of pink rising to his cheeks at getting caught. The blonde just smiled with a small laugh, and looked back out onto the street. Akira quickly looked back down at his phone, feeling embarrassment rise up despite the girl’s fine reaction. 

The sounds of a car slowing to a stop got his attention, look back up to see that a silver car had pulled up to where they were hiding from the rain. The window rolled down to show a man with a large chin and messy black hair in a tracksuit, smiling as he leaned closer to the open window, “Good morning! You want me to give you a ride to school? You’re going to be late?” He said to the blonde, making his eyes widen a bit. Was it common for teachers in Tokyo to give late students rides? 

The girl smiled, stepping up to his offer, “Um, sure, thank you.” 

As she walked to the care, shielding her pretty hair as best she could with a hand, the man look over to Akira as if just noticing him, “Do you need a lift too?” 

“Oh, nah!” Akira was caught by surprise again, not used to teachers being so kind to slow students. He knew a certain buck toothed teacher who would yell at him and make him even later if he was this slow to school. So, he just waved his hand and decided it best to learn the route on his own without a car to get used to it easier. 

The man shrugged, and Akira’s small smile dropped when he saw the look in the girl’s eyes. She looked… sad. But the window rolled up before he could return his answer, and the car drove back away onto the road. Well, guess he was going in the rain today.

That is, until he saw another boy with signs of being from his school ran up. He stopped as the care drove out of view, and scoffed, “Dammit… screw that pervy teacher.”

“...Pervy teacher?” Akira echoed, getting the attention of the new stranger. 

The bleach blonde glared at him, stepping closer, “What do you want? You plannin’ on rattin’ me out to Kamoshida?”

Akira shifted his eyes, feeling a bit on edge with this clear delinquent getting on his case, “What do you mean…?” 

His confusion was mirrored in this new guys face, as if shocked someone wouldn’t know about whoever Kamoshida was. “In the car just now, that was Kamoshida.” The boy looked to the side, glare returning as his voice got bitter, “He does whatever the hell he wants. Who does he think he is- the king of a castle? Don’t you agree?”

At his words, Akira felt his heart rate quicken again. But it only seemed to be for a few seconds before it settled back to normal. Maybe it was just nerves. After all, he was just asked to agree to something about a guy he didn’t even know, and seemed to be pretty nice. “What castle…?” It was dumb, but he felt pretty dumb right now. 

“Uh, it’s just a sayin’...” He kind of laughed, though Akira couldn’t tell if it was laughing at him or not. He was silent for a bit, staring him down and surveying him. It felt weird, being judged by someone who was clearly some delinquent or problem kid, if the hair said anything. Not to mention his loud shirt that replaced the turtleneck of their uniform. Then, the blonde seemed to realize the problem. “Wait. You don’t know Kamoshida? Are you for real? You’re from Shujin, right?”

No, he wasn’t from Shujin, he was from Yasogami. Akira held back the retort, instead trying to stay somewhat pleasant, “You’re from Shujin too?”

Again, he laughed in disbelief, “What? No other high school’s got a uniform like this!” Akira would hardly call the outfit the other wore a uniform. It must have just barely been passing dress codes, or this school was way too slack with rules. Though, when he mentioned the uniforms, his brown eyes found the button on his blazer’s collar. “A second year, huh… We’re in the same grade then. Never seen you before, though.” It seemed things were finally clicking in his angry head. “Oh, are you a transfer student?”

“Something like that.” No need to mention his probation, he might as well just be a transfer student from another country with how things were looking, and how lost he was.

“Then no wonder you don’t know him.” He muttered. Then again, he didn’t tell him anything else, just turned to go towards where his phone said the school was. “This rain ain’t too bad. We better hurry up, or we’ll be late. Follow me, I know a route.” He jerked his head to follow, and considering it’d be better to go with someone who knows his way, even if he was a bit intimidating, than to go alone, Akira knew to follow. 

Yet once he started moving, the sudden and familiar dizzy spells hit again. Yet this was stronger than any of them before, making him clutch his head with a grunt and gasp. He practically stumbled onto the spinning ground as the floor felt fuzzy under him. When he opened his eyes and tried to step closer to the blonde boy, he saw the familiar purple puddles splash from the ground. His eyes widened in shock and fear, but his head hurt too much to look up.

Was he just dreaming? That’s impossible, he had never met any of these faces before. This was some illusion, it had to be. But that must mean he was going crazy. The dreams and Joker would make sense then. Maybe he did assault that man, but he was just losing his mind. But that couldn’t be, right? He was a perfectly sane kid up until now. Sure, he was quiet, but he wasn’t mentally ill. Every stumbling step had the same purple splashes, and it felt like the world was spinning faster and faster each time he saw the ground waver under his shoes.

“Dude!” Sudden hands on his shoulders forced his head up, seeing the blonde boy holding him up right and brows furrowed in worry, “The hell are you doin’? Are you okay?” 

With his words, the world slowed to its normal pace. Everything stopped spinning, and the ground was finally normal under his feet when he looked down again. Akira took a deep breath, rolling his shoulders back to stand up straight again. “I’m fine, I just… I have weird dizzy spells, and that one was worse than normal.” He hated that they were practically normal now. 

“You were looking at the ground and stumbling around like there was a snake or something, you freaked me out!” The boy pulled his hands away once Akira was upright, a hand carding through his spiky hair, “You have some medical thing, or somethin’?”

“Yeah, it’s fine. Don’t worry.” It wasn’t fine, and it wasn’t a medical thing as far as he knew, but he wasn’t going to tell a stranger that. Though, it was nice of him to snap him out of it. “Thanks for helping me. Um, what’s your name?” Might as well get to know someone at this school, and having someone who didn’t run when he started mumbling and going crazy now would be nice.

After a small pause of concern, the blonde managed a small smile, “Ryuji Sakamoto. Don’t mention it, sorry if I ended up doin’ the wrong way to get you out of it or somethin’...” Ryuji looked off to the side, still rubbing the back of his head and neck in a nervous habit. 

“It’s okay, it got me out, and that’s the most important part.” Akira managed to smile back, feeling something like happiness stir in his chest. This was weird and awkward, but for some reason, Ryuji seemed like a nice kid who just looked and sounded a bit intimidating. He was considerate enough to help him, after all. “My name’s Akira Kurusu, it’s nice to meet you, Sakamoto. Do you mind leading me to school, now? I don’t want to be late on my first day…”

“Oh, right, yeah! Follow me.” Ryuji slightly shook himself of his nerves, then turned down a nearby alley. 

It kept shelter from the rain pretty well, and kept private from the busy streets. Akira found himself actually happy to be following the vulgar boy, and almost excited to go to class. Maybe it wouldn’t be too bad if people like Ryuji were in it. He was still a bit worried about the Kamoshida thing, and whether he should have let that girl be driven alone. She had looked so sad before leaving, too.

However, Ryuji was still nice to talk to. He told him about Shujin and its sports teams, saying he used to be in track, but didn’t go into why. Volleyball was to be avoided, since that’s what Kamoshida coached. From what he knew, Kawakami wasn’t as bad as Akira had remembered her to be, just usually pretty tired. There were a few popular kids to avoid, and social suicides to avoid, just as any other school. It was a bit intimidating, but it made the raven feel more familiar with the place already. It wasn’t perfect, but no school was, and he even managed to make the blonde laugh with his impression of the old hardass who was practically famous at his old school.

It was too short of a time that they made it Shujin, and ended up having to part due to different classes. They still had a few minutes to spare, so before Akira said his goodbyes, Ryuji pulled out his phone, “Hey, what a sec. Gimme your phone number. You’re a cool dude, I wanna get to know you more! Getting to know the transfer kid is something not many people can say, y’know?” He laughed, already ready to put in a new contact.

Akira felt excitement bubble up, even if it was only one friend, it was more than what he had coming here. “Sure, sounds great!” The raven smiled brightly, pulling out his phone to get his number. After quietly relaying it to his new friend, he added the blondes as well, then stuffed the phone back into his pocket. It was a small start, but a start nonetheless. 

“Thanks, dude!” Ryuji patted him on the shoulder, then turned down the hall to go to his class, “See ya around, Kurusu!”

“Okay, see you!” Akira quietly waved, smile wide as he watched his new friend go off to class. It was a bit bumpy, but maybe this first day wouldn’t be so bad after all. He put his hands in his pockets, happy to go to class for the first time in what felt like years.

“Was he talking to Sakamoto?”

“What kind of idiot is he?”

“Wanna see how long it takes for Sakamoto to explode on him?”

Yet, even the short walk, he could hear whispers and mutters. School was pretty quiet in the morning after all, so there wasn’t much to muddle it out. His smile dropped by the time he got to his class. Either he had bad taste in friends and was about to be in for a storm, or something had happened with the blonde. Deep down, he doubted the first option. 

Shujin was already mysterious, and now he was being thrown into its pool. Akira didn’t know if he should be filled with dread or fear.


End file.
